


all of your things tell the sweetest storyline

by felixfvlicis



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 03:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6178492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felixfvlicis/pseuds/felixfvlicis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tag to 5x16 -- '25th Hour'</p><p>With the inevitability of Mike going to prison looming, Harvey realizes that everything will change during hour twenty four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	all of your things tell the sweetest storyline

After his conversation with Gloria Danner, Mike ends up going to Harvey's just as he has hundreds of times before. Once he steps over the threshold of Harvey's doorway and into his apartment, Mike's entire world feels like its titled on its axis. The place that's felt like Mike's second home for years now feels hollow, the ghosts of those teetering, almost moments shared with Harvey lining room after room. He walks into Harvey's kitchen and pours himself a shot of vodka, inhaling deeply as he does. He shuffles over to Harvey's couch and sits with his knees together, clutching the glass like he's holding on to the last shred of his life before this all ends.

Mike's breathing becomes synchronized with the ticking second-hand of his watch. He twirls the vodka around and around in his glass, tapping his foot. Harvey's not here, and Mike's losing his nerve. He feels his throat becoming tighter by the minute, and before he realizes what's happening, tears prickle in his eyes before running down his cheeks. He's really going to prison. _This is happening. He's leaving Harvey._

 _THWACK._ The pounding of footsteps tears Mike from his thoughts. He stops tapping his foot and when he looks up, its to find Harvey, looking completely wrecked, tense, and angry, his eyes fixed on Mike. His fists are clinched so tightly that Mike can see the blue outline of his veins, his tie is undone, hanging loosely around his neck, the top two buttons of his stark-white shirt are undone and he's sweating. He looks like he could crumble at any moment. "Harvey ..." Mike manages to choke out, his voice laced with longing. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Harvey demands, though it sounds more like an exasperated cry, his voice thick and shaky. Mike is surprised, though he didn't know what to expect when he decided to turn up here. "I-I wanted to come and see you before --" he stammers, a breathy tone to his voice. "Before what, Mike? What do you want from me?" Harvey replies, his voice firm and measured. "You know what, just fucking forget it, Harvey. I'm done." Mike stands from the couch, eyes wide, eyebrows raised so much so that the lines on his forehead form divisions in the skin on his face. He can feel his heart breaking, his cheeks are hot, but he's also angry -- furious -- at Harvey, at the firm, at Trevor, at himself. He ruined everything that Harvey had given him, and he knows he deserves this, but the pain of leaving Harvey is too much to bare, so he walks away. "Mike." He hears Harvey, but keeps walking. "Goddammit, Mike!" Harvey's yelling now, voice breaking as he does so, and then there's the sound of glass shattering inches from Mike's left ear. Mike jumps, ducks, his eyes flit from Harvey's cabinet to counter top, then his gaze meets Harvey's -- half terrified and completely unsure.

Before Mike can move, Harvey's in front of him, pushing him with his palms with just enough force that Mike begins to teeter. "What the hell, Harvey?!" Mike questions, angrily. He pushes the older man back, unrelenting, digging his feet into the floor until Harvey's halfway across the room. Only then does Mike deliver the devastating blow to Harvey's jaw, tears forming in his eyes as a guttural sound rises in his throat. Harvey falls back immediately, breathless, before replying, "Good. I always knew you had it in you." Mike's collapsed on the floor diagonally across from him, with his knees to his chest and sobbing. "Harvey ... no. Harvey ..." he manages, through sobs. Wiping the blood from his lip, Harvey crawls over to Mike and settles, facing him. "Mike. Hey. Look at me." Harvey commands, placing his his fingertips under Mike's jaw, lifting his head to meet Harvey's eyes. "We knew this was coming eventually. It's all right. It's not forever, and I'll be there for you every step of the way. I'll visit, and when you get out, because you will, I'll help you. This is what we do. Remember?" Mike's eyes are prickling with tears, and Harvey's breathing is ragged, his heart is racing and shattering simultaneously. "I can't leave you, Harvey. I won't. I don't know how to walk away from you. Please don't leave me alone. I can't -- I can't do this." Mike's talking a mile-a-minute, his sobbing becoming more intense almost to the point of hyperventilation. "Mike. I'm not going to leave you. But you're going to have to walk away from me. As much as I don't want you to leave, you have to go. I'll be with you. Always. I promise." He doesn't know when, but his right hand find its way to Mike's face, fingertips stroking his cheek and slowly moving down, inch by inch, to trace the outline of his lips. The tears staining Mike's cheek have been wiped away, and he's looking at Harvey, with his wide blue eyes, expectant, and closes the gap between them.

The kiss is soft at first, foreign. The two of them so familiar with each other, in unfamiliar territory. It only takes about five seconds before the kiss deepens, Mike's hands gripping Harvey's jacket, holding on for dear life, as if he could will all of this away. Harvey, still kissing Mike, pulls him closer so their foreheads touch before pulling away, completely spent, breathless, and light-headed. "Harvey," Mike begins, an air of reverie to his voice, inhaling before continuing, "I'm in ... I'm in love with you." he confesses, mimicking Harvey's touch from earlier, before squeezing his eyes shut, for fear of seeing Harvey's reaction flash across his face. "Mike," Harvey's voice is no more than a hitched whisper, "Don't you know by now that I can't be _me_ without you? You don't have to be afraid. I've got you." Mike knows that this is Harvey's own declaration of love, as he traces his fingertips down Harvey's face and neck, stopping where he can feel his heart thumping loudly through his now wrinkled white collared shirt as he meets Harvey's gaze. Harvey moves his hand over Mike's, leaning forward to kiss him again before suggesting that they get up off of the floor and move somewhere more comfortable.

The sunlight rippling through Harvey's window causes Mike to wake, jolting upright. He looks around and sees trails of clothes -- his and Harvey's clothes, littering the floor. He sighs, smiles, and looks to his left. Harvey. The light is kissing his skin, and Mike just can't help himself. He's still living in the reverie of last night as he leans down, kissing Harvey's lips first, then placing kisses along his jaw, his neck, his stomach -- every inch of skin that he can put his lips to. Harvey moans, opening his eyes slowly to see Mike working his way back up his body before capturing his lips again. "Hey, Mike." Harvey says, his voice laden with emotion. "Mmmm, Harvey, I don't want to go." Mike confesses, his words lacing Harvey's neck.

Eventually, after more emotional confessions [the "I love you's" and "I don't want to leave you's"], bodies entwined in sheets laced with sweat, and Harvey cooking Mike his "last meal" before Danbury Prison, they climb into Harvey's town car as Ray drives that long winding route to the gates of the penitentiary. The car ride is quiet, but Mike never lets go of Harvey's hand, his face alternating between being buried in Harvey's neck, resting on Harvey's shoulder, or simply looking straight ahead, his throat feeling tight, with tears prickling in his eyes. Forty five minutes later, Mike is shutting his car door, walking toward the trunk and leaning against it, waiting. Waiting for his old life to end, his new life to begin, to say goodbye to Harvey, waiting to wake up from this nightmare.

Mike's pulled out of his thoughts by Harvey's hand gripping his shoulder. Mike sighs, his voice low, "Harvey, even knowing how this all turned out, I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Harvey's hand drops from Mike's shoulder, and places it in Mike's. "I guess I would, too" Harvey confesses with a small smile. Mike turns to look at him then, smiling in return before leaning into Harvey's ear and whispering "I love you" for the final time during the next twenty four months. Harvey looks at Mike tenderly before replying, "You take care of yourself in there. I'll come back for you. Always." He kisses Mike, for the final time, placing his lips firmly against his right temple.

Mike closes his eyes, leaning into Harvey and letting a deep, shaky sigh escape his lips, before he lets go of Harvey's hand and takes the first step toward the next chapter of his life without looking back.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from John Mayer's "Come Back to Bed"


End file.
